Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow and discusses a case of refractory juvenile dermatomyositis with calcinosis.

With nearly one-third of adults, adolescents and children having sleep difficulties, many resort to using melatonin. JAMA reports substantial increases in the use of over-the-counter (OTC) melatonin, in all age groups. But is it effective, safe and warranted? The National Health Interview Survey found a 7-fold increase in melatonin use; it 0.1% in 2007 and rose to 0.7% in 2012 amongst youths.

The DESIRES trial studied rituximab (RTX) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and showed clinically significant improvement in skin and lung outcomes after a subsequent 24-week open-label extension phase.

A multicentre, proof-of-concept trial of suggests that low-dose IL-2 therapy may be effective in moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This is not surprising as IL-2 is needed to bolster insufficient regulatory T cell (Treg) activity, thought to be pivotal to the pathophysiology of SLE.

A wide range of therapies have been implicated in causing drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DIL); now it appears that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can be added to the list of causative drugs.